Nuclear Specialist Services

RPS has been a leading provider of specialist safety and risk consultancy services to the UK nuclear sector (civil and defence) for over 30 years.

Our principal area of expertise is in support of nuclear safety case development and preparation. RPS provides expertise to a full range of industry clients and across a wide variety of facilities. These include fuel fabrication and enrichment plants, reactor sites, reprocessing plants, research laboratories, defence establishments and waste management clients. We support the whole plant or project lifecycle from design and construction of new facilities, through operations and decommissioning. Our clients include Sellafield Ltd, Ministry of Defence (MoD), Urenco, Westinghouse (Springfields), EDF, Rolls-Royce, DSRL (Dounreay), Magnox Ltd, Capenhurst Nuclear Services (CNS) and National Nuclear Laboratories (NNL).

RPS has over 60 suitably qualified and experienced consultants / engineers working from offices located in Warrington, Westlakes (Cumbria) and Alton, as well as on our clients’ sites.

Key Contacts

Carl has overall responsibility for the nuclear safety business in RPS. He has over 25 years’ nuclear sector experience covering both technical and commercial aspects. His technical experience includes the preparation, review and management of safety assessment and safety case documents. Commercial experience includes project management, contract management, business development and overall financial responsibility for a major business stream.

Sara has responsibility for our Risk office in West Cumbria. The principal focus of this office is nuclear safety. Sara has over 30 years’ experience in the nuclear sector having spent 23 years working directly for Sellafield before entering the nuclear safety supply chain. She is a safety case specialist with hazard identification, radiological assessment and safety case management experience.

Sub Services

Safety Case Development

A safety case is required for all stages of plant lifecycle including construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning. Each stage involves separate hazards and can present different challenges to safety. Furthermore, nuclear safety cases must be periodically reviewed to ensure changes to the plant’s design or operation have been fully assessed and that the ALARP argument remains valid.

Our staff collectively provide support to clients through all stages of safety case development, including:

Hazard Analysis (HAZAN) draws upon the findings of the initial Hazard Identification process. Examples of some of the disciplines which may be assessed using the Hazard Analysis technique include the following:

Conventional Safety

Radiological Safety

Criticality Safety

Internal Hazards

External Hazards

Chemotoxic Safety

Environmental Safety

Fire Safety

Construction and Demolition Safety

The HAZAN process analyses the identified hazards in much greater detail than the initial Hazard Identification process, and then makes use of this analysis to formulate a safety case within a HAZAN Report. The HAZAN Report details the consequences of each hazard, the frequency of its occurrence, the safety measures in place to protect against and mitigate the hazard and the overall risk associated with the hazard. The HAZAN Report will also seek to demonstrate that the risk associated with the hazards is acceptable and is As Low As Reasonable Practicable (ALARP).

Radiological Risk Assessment

RPS has extensive experience and capability in all aspects of both quantitative and qualitative radiological risk assessment, including:

Radiological consequence assessment, using analytical techniques or established computer codes

Fault tree/event tree analysis using proprietary software packages

Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA)

ALARP studies

FMEA and FMECA

Human Factors Assessments

Nuclear Fire Safety & Engineering

At RPS, we have one of the largest qualified and experienced nuclear fire safety teams in the UK and have established a reputation for providing a competent and reliable service. We have become known for providing accurate and proportionate nuclear fire safety assessments that form part of a facility’s nuclear safety case. Our Fire Engineers have worked for all major nuclear site operators in the UK as well as the ONR (UK Regulatory body).

RPS is a leading supplier of criticality safety services to the UK nuclear industry. Our client base includes major UK civil and defence nuclear site licensees who are involved with handling and the storage of fissile materials including MoD, Sellafield Ltd, URENCO, Rolls-Royce, EDF and Springfields.

Cross check calculations using a variety of analytical techniques and handbook data

Independent Peer Review

RPS is one of the UK’s leading providers of Independent Peer Review (IPR) and Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment (INSA).

Services include a formal assessment of safety cases, considering whether appropriate safety standards and criteria have been used when addressing issues such as performance, reliability, integrity, hazards, failures and safeguards, and leading to advice on safety clearance as part of the client's 'authorisation to operate' process.

Our skills include reactor and radiation physics, thermal hydraulics, probabilistic safety analysis, mechanical systems, control and instrumentation, materials and structural integrity. We operate a comprehensive project system that integrates and co-ordinates safety advice across specialist disciplines. Our assessment and advisory service extends from formal safety cases to operating documentation and safety management arrangements.

Review capabilities extend to Engineering Substantiation services to validate claims made for the expected level of performance of equipment, facilities and operations or confirm that safety substantiation is complete, justified and meets the regulatory or legislative requirements.

Safety Case Management

We hold a full understanding of nuclear safety case production, approval and implementation. Collectively, we can offer support throughout the life of a facility including concept / design, construction / commissioning, operation and decommissioning.

Our staff can effectively manage interactions between stakeholders and assess the impact of a facility nuclear safety case on wider safety management arrangements. Our consultants work directly with UK regulatory bodies and have a complete knowledge of the approval processes for UK nuclear safety cases.